After Texas A&M-Kingsville won the 1997 title, the North Division dominated for three years as Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State each won league titles and shared a third with Southeastern Oklahoma State.

The league had to change its format when Harding and Ouachita Baptist pulled out, and several South Division teams took turns playing in the North Division starting in 1999.

Midwestern State won a North Division title in 2001 and Tarleton State won the North in 2002 and 2003, tying Texas A&M-Kingsville for the overall conference title in 2002.

Texas A&M-Commerce became a permanent member of the North in 2005, while West Texas A&M was taking over from A&M-Kingsville as the conference power.

The Buffs were joined by Abilene Christian and MSU as perennial playoff contenders, while Tarleton and A&M-Kingsville also have made their presence felt again.

But never has the conference been so South-dominated as it is this year — despite Eastern New Mexico joining the North and Incarnate Word taking its place in the South.

QB's growth helped ECU to LSC North title - Bob Forrest, Ada Evening News
Tyler Vanderzee might have started and finished the year at 6-6, but he has grown steadily into his role as East Central University’s starting quarterback.

Handed the job by head coach Tim McCarty when he arrived on campus this spring after two years at Mt. San Antonio Junior College, Vanderzee was an immediate hit with his coaches and teammates. He demonstrated the strong, accurate arm the ECU coaching staff had seen when they recruited him, and he also showed the intangibles McCarty knew would be necessary to lead his program out of the depths of an 0-11 campaign in 2009.

Coming off impressive spring and preseason camps, Vanderzee had one of the most impressive debuts of any quarterback in ECU’s long football history, completing 20-of-31 passes for 276 yards in a Week 1 loss at Fort Hays State; over the next three weeks, though, Vanderzee and the Tiger offense basically disappeared in losses to nationally-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville (20-7) and Abilene Christian (47-7) and in a 23-0 victory over Southwestern at Norris Field that snapped a school-record 16-game losing streak.

ENMU loss in OT tough to take - Dave Wagner, Clovis News Journal
Any loss can be hard to take. Eastern New Mexico University football coach Mark Ribaudo said Tuesday he’s still having trouble getting over the Greyhounds’ 43-40 Lone Star Conference North Division overtime loss to Northeastern State on Saturday at Tahlequah, Okla.

The game bounced back and forth, but the Hounds (4-6, 3-3 North), trailing 37-34, thought they’d won the game on a short Wes Wood-to-Chase Kyser touchdown pass as time expired.

An official, though, called ENMU for an illegal formation — meaning not enough men were on the line of scrimmage. Under the circumstances, Ribaudo thought it was, at best, picky.

Sophomore Taylor Cannon kicked a game-tying field goal on an untimed play, then added another on the first possession of overtime. But the RiverHawks (6-4, 5-1), facing first-and-15 at the 30 after an illegal procedure penalty, got the third touchdown pass of the day from quarterback Kenny Davis to wide receiver Trey McVay on the next play to give themselves a share of the division title with East Central, a 36-33 winner later at Texas A&M-Commerce.

“It was just a heartbreaker,” Ribaudo said. “That last drive (in regulation) was as thrilling as any I’ve ever seen.”